Improvement in apparatus for making ice



s..w|LLA'nu.

Apparatus for Making Ice. No. 137,523, 'Pa'xemed Apri|1,1873.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEa GARDNER WILLARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 137,523, dated April 1, 1873; application led Marc-l1 20, 1873.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GARDNER WILLARD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have made a new and useful Improvement in Domestic Ice-Making Apparatus for the use of families residing in Warm latitudes, those remote 'from supplies of natural ice, and expedition parties, of which the following is a specitieation:

The nature of my improvement consists of an arrangement of rectangular metal boxes for holding water, inclosed in a chamber lined with a good non-conductor of heat, and having in the center and in contact with them a cistern for holding a salt, which in dissolving produces a degree of cold which freezes the water, the Whole so adjusted and arranged that the boxes of ice may be removed and the blocks placed together and formed into one large and solid mass; and, further, in the mode of removing the freezing-mixture, and the separation of its ingredients by simple distillation for repeated uses, the Whole providing a compact, simple, and inexpensive apparatus.

In order that my improvement may be understood, manufactured, and operated by others, I will describe its structure and the details of working it. To do this I will refer to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of theinterior ofthe case when the lid is removed. Fig. 3 is a side section of the whole.

The exterior case is of wood, thirty inches high, seventeen by thirteen inches square. The top or lid M opens on hinges. c, Figs. 2 and 3, represents the outer lining of the case, which is two inches thick, and a good non-conductor of heat. I prefer dry paper-pulp. This is lined with sheet-zinc so as toiform an inner cham.- ber seven and a half inches wide, eleven and a half inches long, and nine inches deep. Within this chamber are arranged four rectangular boxes, as shown in the figure, a a a a. These are nine inches deep, and two inches by seven and a half inches at their sides, each having a lid, and made of copper plated with nickel. Closely tting between these boxes is a copper box, d, nine inches deep, three and a half inches wide, and seven and a half inches long. This box is open at the top, and forms a central cistern of the whole. The 11a M, rig. 1, which covers the boxes above described, is lined with dry paper-pulp and a sheet of zinc, the same as the side walls, but has au addition rof cov ering over the zinc of first liannel and next rubber sheeting. Through the lid and its iining passes a copper tube, It, to which a funnel may be attached, and liquid and salts poured into the cistern without exposing the interior to the air. When not in use the funnel is removed and the tube closed with a rubber stopper. At the bottom of the cistern is an orifice, t, from which a copper tube leads to a lower apartment. A stop-cock is attached to this tube, through which the contents of-the cisterns are drawn into a receptacle placed to receive them. At the upper edges of the cistern are riveted two copper ears having holes in them to receive a copper journal, as shown at l, Fig. 2. To the journal is attached a slip of perforated sheet-copper, which reaches near the bottom of the cistern, and serves to agitate the mixtures in it. One end of the journal is square, and reaches to the zinc lining. Opposite this end is an aperture through the box Z. A key in the form of a crank is inserted through the aperture, and works the journal and stirrer, above described.

In using the apparatus the boxes a a aI c are filled with cold water and their covers adjusted. The lid isthen closed and fastened, the funnel attached to the tube h, and four pounds of `granulated crystals of sulphate of soda (Glanbers salt) are passed into the cistcrn cl,- then two and a half pounds by measure of hydrochloric acid are added, the funnel is removed, the tube closed with the rubber stopper. The key-crank isnext attached through the orifice lto t-he journal of the mixer, and the mixture agitated occasionally during ten minutes to assist the solution ot' the salts in the acid. 'At the expiration of this time the cock in the lower apartment is opened, and the solution allowed to fall into the receptacle placed there to receive it. The cistern is again charged, as before, with salt and acid. vThese charges are repeated during about one hour, and will require about sixteen pounds of thel vsulphate of soda, twelve pounds of hydrochloric acid. The cover of the case is next opened, and the boxes ay a a ,which now contain ice, are

removed. The Warmth of the atmosphere will soon render the blocks of ice Within them in a condition by which they may be dropped Each cake is placed block, which is placed in a refrigerator or wrapped in awoolen blanket for use. The

quantity of ice thus formed is about sixteen pounds.

- In order to separate the acid from the salt for reuse, a separate apparatus is employed. This is shown in Fig. 4.

a is aniron cylinderheater, twenty-one inches high, fifteen inches diameter, having a grate, b, a fire-space for Wood, g, and ash-box h. f 0n one side of the cylinder is attached a short smoke-pipe, m. At the top is a sand-bath, q. A porcelain retort, p, rests in the sand-bath. This is made in sections so that the upper part serves the purpose of an alelnbic heat to a still. A short neck leads from the upper or cap part ofthe retort, to which is attached a glass tube `leading int-o a glass flask, n, which rest-s in a receptacle of cold Water. The solution of sulphate of soda in the hydrochloric acid', which was employed to freeze the ice, as above described, is placed in this retort, and when the cool.

cap and condenser have been adjusted, a Wood fire is made in the heater, the acid distilled over at little above 2300 Fahrenheit, and condenses in the ask a, which should be kept When all the acid has distilled over the cap of the retort is taken o'and the sulphate of soda removed.

Having thus described my improvement, what I claim as of my invention, and desire Vto secure by Letters Patent, is-' l. The improved apparatus for forming ice, consisting of a wooden ease divided into two compartments, the upper lined with a good non-conductor of heat for insulatingr the freezin g-boxes, and the lower for holding the liquid solution, as set forth.

2. The method described for forming blocks of ice by means of movable boxes arranged in an insulated chamber at the sides and around a cistern containing a freezing-mixture, substantially as described.

3. The entire apparatus, consisting ofthe freezing-vessel d with boxes a a a a and vessel f, all arranged as described, for the purpose set forth.

Witnesses: GARDNER WILLARD.

WM. M. FINCKE, CHARLES MARTIN. 

